Kobo Store Price Increases

wildstar · 12-11-2010, 12:05 PM

What is going on with the prices of many books on the Kobo and Kindle stores? They are now almost the same or more than the actual hardcover sold through Chapters or Amazon.ca

Examples, the first price is for an ebook, the others for hardcovers.

Harperland: Kobo 23.99, Chapters 23.10, Amazon 21.95
Illustrado: Kobo 20.99, Chapters 22.44, Amazon 21.32
The Death of Donna Whalen: Kobo 23.49, Chapters 22.44
Cigar Box Banjo: Kobo 17.39, Chapters 19.80

Admittedly these are extreme examples, and there are still many bestsellers which go for 9.99, but there appears to be an upward trend in ebook prices. I suspect this is the work of the publishers, which leads to me ask what are they thinking? Am I really going to want a particular title so badly that I'll pay 23.49 when there are hundreds of other titles at 9.99 I would be just as happy reading?

Publishers and authors are entitled to price their work as they see fit, but it seems that their pricing is simply to going to lead to lost sales. That is unless every publisher moves to this price structure in the future. It will be interesting to see where ebook prices end up, but it looks like they won't be going down.

feedbakbwr · 12-11-2010, 01:30 PM

Seems to defeat the purpose of eReading so to speak.

ModReader · 12-11-2010, 02:38 PM

Those are attempts to get non-technical users to pay for overpriced ebooks. What's sad is it works. People still pay that price.

The Terminator · 12-11-2010, 04:23 PM

I have no idea why those are so expensive but most of the other ones are allot cheaper like The Conffesion by John Grisham is $10 on kobo and $33 at walmart and american assasian by Vince Flynn is $10 on kobo and $18 at amazon for the hardcover, and then all the deals kobo has like right now its thirty percent off all ebooks

Danger · 12-11-2010, 04:37 PM

Yes unfortunately it's been keeping me from buying books since I've got my Kobo. Every now and then I take a look at Kobo, check out some books I am interested in, get disgusted with the prices and leave with out purchasing any thing. I was tempted once with a new book that was out in Hardcover. The HC book was I think $23, the epub was I think $15 and then an additional 30% off which brought it down to $9.99 which was still irritating in that it was now the price of a softcover. I was tempted but then they only take credit cards... there went that sale.

ltr · 12-11-2010, 05:09 PM

Quote:

I was tempted but then they only take credit cards... there went that sale.

On-line shopping requires a credit card. I don't think Kobo is particularly unique in that regard. How else would you pay?

ltr

Suzanna · 12-11-2010, 06:52 PM

In a lot of cases the prices of ebooks are being set by the publisher and not the stores themselves. There was a whole kerfuffle back in the early months of 2010 about this (starting with Amazon actually removing the buy button from the books for one publisher, then blinking and backing off. You can blame Apple, essentially, since Apple and the publishers came up with this pricing model for their launch of the iPad and their ebook store.) Five of the six major publishers have entered into agreements with retailers for an "Agency model" of pricing (these publishers are referred to as the "Agency 5".) With pricing for their ebooks, the price is set by the publisher and the book should be the same price wherever you shop. (The slight discrepancies in listed prices are due to taxes, I believe. Some retailers will add the tax when you checkout, while others include the taxes in the list price.)

I think the publishers wanted to step in and start setting prices before eReading takes off in a big way - it's been growing steadily, but they expect this Christmas to be the year when it really takes off now that there are many eReaders on the market that are affordable. They're hoping to establish a high price point and have these new readers expect ebooks to cost that much.

Kobo actually blogged a bit about this when it was happening. Have a look at the following articles for more information:

Countdown to Agency (and Party Like it’s $9.99!)
HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster and Sales Tax

Danger · 12-11-2010, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltr

On-line shopping requires a credit card. I don't think Kobo is particularly unique in that regard. How else would you pay?

ltr

Paypal, 99.9% of my online purchases are done with it. Every computer part I have in my and my stepsons computers are bought from ncix.com using paypal. Not counting any purchase I've made on eBay or donations for Sigil & Calibre. There are also almost all the programs I own were bought with Paypal. There are a lot of companies out there that readily accept paypal with no problems.

taming · 12-12-2010, 09:23 AM

Brand new books are often expensive and may stay that way. OTOH, the prices do seem to drop fairly quickly, if you can wait a bit. Kobo often has a coupon on the go, so I buy more expensive books that way. The dec10ca30 coupon code now will get you 30% off all but Agency prices (generally indicated by only one price listed) on unlimited purchases until midnight tonight and I'm guessing another one will soon take its place.

EDinNB · 12-12-2010, 11:53 AM

@ Danger,

There is another option, a prepaid credit card. All major wireless companies in Canada have started a company called Zoompass and issue a mastercard, you link a bank account to it just like paypal and transfer money in at your pleasure. All my purchases from Kobobooks are on my zoompass card check them out...

www.zoompass.com

EDinNB
apologies if live links are not permitted.

pokee · 12-13-2010, 02:56 PM

I have one word for you:

e-Library

I've read about 6 books in a couple of months - including The Confession (which is awesome for me, considering I work full time and have two little kids) and I've spent NOTHING. I did buy and download 3 books as experiments when I first bought my Kobo, and I haven't read them yet!

SensualPoet · 12-13-2010, 07:12 PM

At least two of the four examples are Penguin ... and Pearson Publishing Group has been very reluctant, in Canada or the US, to support customer friendly pricing.

I expect execs at Penguin are wondering what all the fuss is about with ebooks since, at $23.99 they don't appear to be selling ....

jimr · 12-13-2010, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SensualPoet

At least two of the four examples are Penguin ... and Pearson Publishing Group has been very reluctant, in Canada or the US, to support customer friendly pricing.

I expect execs at Penguin are wondering what all the fuss is about with ebooks since, at $23.99 they don't appear to be selling ....

Overpaid stuffed shirts!!

Danger · 12-13-2010, 09:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pokee

I have one word for you:

e-Library

I've read about 6 books in a couple of months - including The Confession (which is awesome for me, considering I work full time and have two little kids) and I've spent NOTHING. I did buy and download 3 books as experiments when I first bought my Kobo, and I haven't read them yet!

I know one of the first things I checked out when I got my Kobo was our public library and the links to eBooks they provide... Very pathetic selection unfortunately. I love SciFi and their selection just sucks.

triffids · 12-14-2010, 12:44 AM

Quote:

I know one of the first things I checked out when I got my Kobo was our public library and the links to eBooks they provide... Very pathetic selection unfortunately. I love SciFi and their selection just sucks.

I don't know where you are, Danger, but I can tell you that the Toronto Public Library has steadily been expanding their eBook selection. I think that's a good sign ... and if more people read the books, that will hopefully encourage further expansion!

At one point, I made a complaint on Twitter about the eBook selection at TPL ... someone from the library tweeted back, recommending that I provide suggestions to TPL re: books to add! It couldn't hurt to drop your library a note with specific scifi eBook recommendations to acquire.

12-11-2010, 12:05 PM	#1
wildstar Enthusiast Posts: 25 Karma: 631 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Vancouver, Canada Device: Kobo 1, Kindle 3	Kobo Store Price Increases What is going on with the prices of many books on the Kobo and Kindle stores? They are now almost the same or more than the actual hardcover sold through Chapters or Amazon.ca Examples, the first price is for an ebook, the others for hardcovers. Harperland: Kobo 23.99, Chapters 23.10, Amazon 21.95 Illustrado: Kobo 20.99, Chapters 22.44, Amazon 21.32 The Death of Donna Whalen: Kobo 23.49, Chapters 22.44 Cigar Box Banjo: Kobo 17.39, Chapters 19.80 Admittedly these are extreme examples, and there are still many bestsellers which go for 9.99, but there appears to be an upward trend in ebook prices. I suspect this is the work of the publishers, which leads to me ask what are they thinking? Am I really going to want a particular title so badly that I'll pay 23.49 when there are hundreds of other titles at 9.99 I would be just as happy reading? Publishers and authors are entitled to price their work as they see fit, but it seems that their pricing is simply to going to lead to lost sales. That is unless every publisher moves to this price structure in the future. It will be interesting to see where ebook prices end up, but it looks like they won't be going down. Last edited by wildstar; 12-11-2010 at 12:20 PM.

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12-11-2010, 01:30 PM	#2
feedbakbwr Redwood Original Posts: 59 Karma: 93478 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Kingston, Ontario Device: Kobo, Kobo Wifi, Kobo Touch	Seems to defeat the purpose of eReading so to speak.

12-11-2010, 02:38 PM	#3
ModReader Kobo Posts: 53 Karma: 326 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kobo Aura, Sony PRS-T1, Kobo Wifi	Those are attempts to get non-technical users to pay for overpriced ebooks. What's sad is it works. People still pay that price.

12-11-2010, 04:23 PM	#4
The Terminator Retired Posts: 2,552 Karma: 37638420 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island Canada Device: Kobo Touch, Optimus One (2.3), Nexus 7 (4.2)	I have no idea why those are so expensive but most of the other ones are allot cheaper like The Conffesion by John Grisham is $10 on kobo and $33 at walmart and american assasian by Vince Flynn is $10 on kobo and $18 at amazon for the hardcover, and then all the deals kobo has like right now its thirty percent off all ebooks

12-11-2010, 04:37 PM	#5
Danger Evangelist Posts: 490 Karma: 1665031 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver Island, Nanaimo Device: K2 (retired), Kobo Touch (passed to the wife), KGlo, Galaxy TabPro	Yes unfortunately it's been keeping me from buying books since I've got my Kobo. Every now and then I take a look at Kobo, check out some books I am interested in, get disgusted with the prices and leave with out purchasing any thing. I was tempted once with a new book that was out in Hardcover. The HC book was I think $23, the epub was I think $15 and then an additional 30% off which brought it down to $9.99 which was still irritating in that it was now the price of a softcover. I was tempted but then they only take credit cards... there went that sale.

12-11-2010, 06:52 PM	#7
Suzanna Living in the past Posts: 432 Karma: 6011289 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kobo Arc	In a lot of cases the prices of ebooks are being set by the publisher and not the stores themselves. There was a whole kerfuffle back in the early months of 2010 about this (starting with Amazon actually removing the buy button from the books for one publisher, then blinking and backing off. You can blame Apple, essentially, since Apple and the publishers came up with this pricing model for their launch of the iPad and their ebook store.) Five of the six major publishers have entered into agreements with retailers for an "Agency model" of pricing (these publishers are referred to as the "Agency 5".) With pricing for their ebooks, the price is set by the publisher and the book should be the same price wherever you shop. (The slight discrepancies in listed prices are due to taxes, I believe. Some retailers will add the tax when you checkout, while others include the taxes in the list price.) I think the publishers wanted to step in and start setting prices before eReading takes off in a big way - it's been growing steadily, but they expect this Christmas to be the year when it really takes off now that there are many eReaders on the market that are affordable. They're hoping to establish a high price point and have these new readers expect ebooks to cost that much. Kobo actually blogged a bit about this when it was happening. Have a look at the following articles for more information: Countdown to Agency (and Party Like it’s $9.99!) HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster and Sales Tax

12-12-2010, 09:23 AM	#9
taming Trying for calm & polite Posts: 4,012 Karma: 9455193 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Mostly in Canada Device: kobo original, WiFI, Touch, Glo, and Aura	Brand new books are often expensive and may stay that way. OTOH, the prices do seem to drop fairly quickly, if you can wait a bit. Kobo often has a coupon on the go, so I buy more expensive books that way. The dec10ca30 coupon code now will get you 30% off all but Agency prices (generally indicated by only one price listed) on unlimited purchases until midnight tonight and I'm guessing another one will soon take its place.

12-12-2010, 11:53 AM	#10
EDinNB Enthusiast Posts: 46 Karma: 208 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo	@ Danger, There is another option, a prepaid credit card. All major wireless companies in Canada have started a company called Zoompass and issue a mastercard, you link a bank account to it just like paypal and transfer money in at your pleasure. All my purchases from Kobobooks are on my zoompass card check them out... www.zoompass.com EDinNB apologies if live links are not permitted.

12-13-2010, 02:56 PM	#11
pokee Fanatic Posts: 569 Karma: 199759 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Vancouver, BC Device: Kobo WiFi, Kobo Glo, Kobo Vox, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Tab2	I have one word for you: e-Library I've read about 6 books in a couple of months - including The Confession (which is awesome for me, considering I work full time and have two little kids) and I've spent NOTHING. I did buy and download 3 books as experiments when I first bought my Kobo, and I haven't read them yet!

12-13-2010, 07:12 PM	#12
SensualPoet Wizard Posts: 2,302 Karma: 2607151 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Kobo Aura HD, Kindle Paperwhite, Asus ZenPad 3, Kobo Glo	At least two of the four examples are Penguin ... and Pearson Publishing Group has been very reluctant, in Canada or the US, to support customer friendly pricing. I expect execs at Penguin are wondering what all the fuss is about with ebooks since, at $23.99 they don't appear to be selling ....

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